Crossrail 2 questions and answers

We are aware that there are concerns about the current proposed Crossrail 2 station at King’s Road. There have been a number of claims made about it, which we know to be misleading or incorrect. So we asked Transport for London (TfL), as promoters of the Crossrail 2 scheme, to answer the following questions.

It has been claimed that the station will extend from the fire station to Waitrose. Is this true?

The Crossrail 2 station will not extend all the way from the fire station to Waitrose at street level. At this stage, it is too early to say exactly where the station would extend to, and from, as the station design is still being developed.

The proposed Crossrail 2 station at King’s Road would be underground. Platforms would be up to 250m in length as they will be for Crossrail 1. Above ground, it’s expected the station footprint would be contained within the areas of surface interest, as defined in the 2014 safeguarding consultation material.

It has also been claimed that there will be 3 or 4 station entrances. Is this true?

The final station design is not yet complete, but the expectation is that there will be one station entrance. The expected passenger demand is not likely to justify more than one entrance

There have been various claims about the number of passengers that would be alighting at the station. We have heard there could be 45,000 or even 72,000 people exiting onto King’s Road per hour. What are your forecasts for this station?

It appears that these figures have been arrived at by assuming that vast majority of people travelling on Crossrail 2 will all want to disembark in Chelsea rather than at Clapham Junction, Victoria, Tottenham Court Road or King’s Cross / Euston. This will not be the case. To put the figures into perspective, approximately 93,000 people exit Canary Wharf Tube station on a typical day. Given that Canary Wharf is one of the busiest stations on the network it is not a practical assumption that 45,000 or 72,000 people would be using King’s Road per hour.

We are still undertaking a detailed assessment about the number of people who would exit a Crossrail 2 station at Kings Road but initial forecasts suggest that around 5,000 people per hour would use the station (two-way) during the peak hours of 7.00 am and 10.00 am. This peak hour usage is comparable to that of Sloane Square Tube station.

There is a significant amount of concern about damage to buildings as a result of settlement. There has been a claim that Crossrail 1 experienced settlement damage and we may be facing the same impact, and the potential for blight.

The experience of Crossrail 1 has been very positive. 42km of new rail tunnels under London have been successfully completed and involved tunneling under areas including Mayfair, the Barbican and Canary Wharf. Levels of ground settlement were significantly less than expected due to the high specification of the tunnel boring machines and the extensive monitoring regime put in place with thousands of sensors monitored in real time for the entirety of the tunneling works.

Should Crossrail 2 go ahead, the tunnels would be constructed using a tunnel boring machine, with a specification similar to that of Crossrail 1. The stations would be built by excavating the required spaces and lining these with sprayed concrete, in exactly the same way used by Crossrail 1 at Bond Street and other locations. In our experience of building tunnels, modern construction techniques do not result in buildings being affected by ground movement. Crossrail 1 also used a technique called 'compensation grouting' which minimized the effects of ground movement at certain locations.

A small number of buildings may be required in order to construct a Crossrail 2 station at Kings Road. These have been identified in the safeguarding directions that were issued in March 2015. In all cases, we will seek to minimize the number of buildings used, and will use construction methods which minimize disruption to local residents and businesses

It has been claimed that there was 5cm of subsidence on Crossrail 1. Can you clarify how deep the tunnel will be and how much subsidence it will cause?

There has not been 5cm of subsidence on Crossrail 1. The experience of Crossrail 1 has clearly shown that actual levels of movement have been much less than this. It is expected that the depth of the tunnel in Chelsea would be around 20metres from ground level to the crown of the tunnel. Further engineering work needs to be completed before we can accurately confirm the depth. This is comparable to the depth of the Piccadilly line, which is between 17-23m below ground around the South Kensington station.

The District line is approximately 5-10 metres below the surface. The Crossrail 2 tunnel will be significantly deeper than the District Line.

It has also been stated that the autumn consultation will be the last one. Is this true?

We will carry out further public consultations on Crossrail 2 as the proposals for the scheme develop. Crossrail 2 will not open before 2030 and cannot be built before we have formal consent from the Government, the funds to pay for it and the necessary land has been acquired. Crossrail 1 could only go ahead following approval of the Crossrail Hybrid Bill by Parliament following significant consultation and scrutiny.

We have held two major consultations on Crossrail 2 to date, in addition to the Department for Transport’s safeguarding consultation. The first was in summer 2013 on the principle of a scheme, and the second was in summer 2014 where we consulted on specific route options along three parts of the route.

The next public consultation is planned for later this year, following engineering work to refine our proposals. This consultation will provide more information about our preferred route and proposed locations of stations, vent shafts and work sites along the route.
Ahead of this, we will be undertaking a programme of engagement with residents and businesses along the route to provide an update on the project and a forum to better understand local community concerns.

It has been claimed that construction would take up to 8 years and lead to 2 years of closures on Kings Road. What is your construction timeline and anticipated impact?

The impact of Crossrail 2’s construction on London must be kept to a minimum, including on the local road network.
As we are in the very early stages of developing Crossrail 2, we have not established detailed construction plans for each Crossrail 2 station. More detailed plans will be shared for public consultation when the design has been further developed.

It has been stated that if there were to be a station at King’s Road large buildings would come to dominate the area, similar to Tottenham Court Road and that massive development will be required to pay for Crossrail2. What are your thoughts on this?

Should Crossrail 2 go ahead, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea would remain the planning authority for new developments on the Kings Road. All potential new developments would still require planning permission from Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Local and London wide planning regulations and policies must also be adhered to.

It is not the case that 50% of the scheme costs would be funded through development: the actual figure is expected to be under two per cent. Some stations will facilitate more development than others, according to local circumstances.

Will the trains run 24hrs?

Should Crossrail 2 go ahead, work to determine the Crossrail 2 service pattern will take place ahead of services starting. Our current working assumption is that Crossrail 2 would operate at similar times as the rest of the Underground network.

It has been claimed that Chelsea already has good accessibility. What research have you done to show that this station is needed in our borough?

Many parts of Chelsea have poor public transport access. A Crossrail 2 station will significantly improve travel times and connectivity from Chelsea to key parts of London.
Journeys which currently take 30 minutes or more would be reduced to less than 10 minutes.
For example, a journey to:

- Euston St Pancras would be reduced from 33 minutes to around 9 minutes
- Tottenham Court Road would be reduced from 33 minutes to around 6 minutes
- Clapham Junction would be reduced from 32 minutes to around 3 minutes.

Nearly 6 sq km of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is currently more than 800 metres from a Tube station (approximately a ten minute walk). A Crossrail station at Kings Road would ensure that all residents of Chelsea have improved access to London’s Tube and rail networks.